"In The
Halls Of Awaiting" is the debut album from Insomnium. This band is
very talented and I 'm pretty sure that they will surprise us again in
the future many times! Read below to see what Ville
Vänni the guitarist of the band told us.

Your
new album is excellent. You play melodic death metal in a way that I
haven’t listened to for a long time. Introduce us the band and tell us
why did you decided to form a band that plays death metal music?

V:Well,
we are Insomnium, and the line-up which reached it’s present form in
early spring 2001 is the following: Niilo Sevänen – vocals and bass;
Ville Friman – guitar; Ville Vänni – Guitar; and Markus Hirvonen
– drums. Insomnium was formed in 1997 when we were in secondary
school. Each of us had been playing our instruments for a few years and
some of us had done some songwriting, so it seemed quite obvious to form
a band and express those musical ideas we had that time.

In my opinion there are more elements in our music than mere “death
metal”, but I think those death metal influences came from the music
we have listened. The fact that Niilo is an able and talented death
metal singer was discovered in fairly early phase of our existence, so
it came quite naturally to express our music this way. Death metal
–styled vocals give more feeling into lyrics and strong and powerful
guitars have always sounded so good and natural that it was obvious to
do things this way.

Which
is the reaction of the press and of the common fans for the album? Did
you expect such a reaction?

V:
So
far we have been very positively surprised by he reviews and interviews
of the press. We have been doing lots of interviews to Europe and USA,
especially to Germany. It has also felt really good that almost all
reviewers have grasped the idea and concept of our music really well,
leaving us the feeling that people really understand what we’re all
about.

Reactions of our fans have also been very positive, according to
signings in our Guestbook at our website (http://insomnium.cjb.net).
But anyway, people never write much critic in guestbooks so we are quite
eager and enthusiastic to play live this summer and meet our fans
face-to-face. I think that playing live is the ultimate meter for the
reactions of fans, it always feels good to see people loosing their
minds and get carried away by the music… This far we have had only one
gig after the release date, (that gig was about a week ago), but there
are several bookings for the summer, and we really look forward to get
on stage.

Tell
us some thing about the lyrical concept of your new album.

V:
Our
lyrical concept is quite clear to us – our songs are very story-like,
lyrics build the context of the song and music itself is meant to paint
pictures of the events and atmosphere in listener’s head. Lyrics and
that way the stories which they tell are quite timeless, although very
much nature-related, and they tell of all kinds of human emotions. There
is certain melancholic atmosphere in the lyrics, and very rarely any
happy endings. They are often related to concepts like sadness, sorrow,
unfortunate human fates and desperate love. That’s not about any
crying or wining, though, but more likely strong emotions combined to
strong music, lyrics that are meant to take the listener to the murky
woods and misty shores of Karelia.

Who
are your favorite singers and from whom you have been influenced most?

V:This
is actually a question that would need Niilo’s answering, but in our
all behalf I can say that we all have listened (and been influenced by)
the death metal bands of early 90’s like Sentenced, At the Gates, Dark
Tranquility, In Flames, Paradise Lost and Amorphis. Those bands have
affected our way to see music in general, so many influences about the
vocals and playing come from there. But it must be added that we also
listen to very different kinds of music (every one of us has at least
one favorite band that the other band mates can’t stand…), so our
music is a mix of wide category of influences.

Who’s
idea been to baptize the band Insomnium? Is it something behind this?

V:
That
name was a result of brainstorming and a democratic decision. Insomnium
is a latin word meaning insomnia and nightmare, and this dual meaning
describes the many shades in our music and gives people something to
think about. Sometimes our music is (or causes) those things both,
insomnia in studio and nightmares after a liquid after-party of a
live-show J

Back
to your new album again. What’s the idea behind the album’s title?

V:The
idea was to baptize the album after the last song, In the Halls of
Awaiting, because that song has many different kinds of feelings into it
and so it describes the entity of the album well. The story behind In
the Halls of Awaiting is a sad tale of longing, man yearns for his love
to join him again. That song is also my personal favorite on album, very
sad and touching, yet aggressive and raging at some parts. Idea for that
song came from J.R.R. Tolkien’s book Silmarillion, but just the idea
about those halls, the story itself is independent of time or place.

Have
most of your dreams been fulfilled with Insomnium? What more do you
expect to gain? Do you see a long way in front of you?

V:
Yes, it has been a wonderful opportunity to write and record music, and
I’m also happy to play in a band where my band mates are my best
friends. But somehow we aren’t much into dreaming, we pretty much do
just what we want and concentrate in doing it as well as we can. We have
our musical ambitions which (hopefully) will never be satisfied, and
that’s the flame that keeps us going. Even though we are pretty
satisfied with our debut album, I know we will do better next time due
to natural development in songwriting and playing.

The
way before us is definitely long, and it may have many twists and turns
but it’s certainly worth going through. Right now we are very eager to
play live, and maybe we’ll do some touring next autumn. Our contract
with candlelight lasts for three more albums, and the next album will
probably be recorded in summer 2003.It’s
of course nice to get good reviews and meet our fans but the most
rewarding thing in music is to write and record songs we are satisfied
with and express ourselves that way.

And
now let’s go to some weird questions…what is the most difficult
thing, that once in your life you were obligated to do, although you
didn’t want it? What was that made you do it?

V:I
usually don’t tend to do many unpleasant things in my life (if you
don’t count throwing up in hangover,studying to some big exam in university or things like that...).
I bet the most difficult thing has been killing my ex-girlfriend’s
pet. It was a shitty thing to do, but I had to put it out of it’s
agony for it was severely wounded and in great pain.

What
is the worst album that you’ve recently bought and what was your first
thought when you listed to it? To whom (hateful person) would you give
it as a present?

V:I
don’t buy bad albums at all, CDs are so expensive in Finland that I
always listen to them beforehand and therefore buy only the albums I
like most. But maybe the worst album I’ve ever bought is My Dying
Brides “Meisterverk II”, I was so enthusiastic with the “The
Dreadful Hours” (absolutely great album!!!) that I carelessly bought
that Meisterverk-compilation…

I usually just neglect all the hateful persons, but if I had to give
something to somebody, I’d give Impaled Nazarene’s Ugra Karma to my
former unjust, unfair and dishonest teacher, just in educative purposes
of course :)

Then
imagine that your wife/girlfriend once sells your record-collection in
order to buy a designer dress. How would you react?

V:
Respecting, trusting and understanding your companion in the very basics
of any relationship, and all those things would be violated in the given
situation. That would inevitably mean a quick and unnegotiable ending
for that relationship. I’d pack my guitar and clothes without a word
and head for the door…

The
last question is open…Tell us whatever you like as an end to this
interview. Thank you very much for your time!

V:
Well,
a big thank you to those who have bought our album, and to those who
haven’t I recommend to visit our website and become familiar with our
music. All metalheads stand tall and keep the spirit alive, I hope to
see you on tour!!!